Thursday, May 2, 2013

NetworkManager: A new option for the Slackware Linux network configuration!

Wicd (in "/extra" directory) is a good option for managing network connections. Until Slackware Linux 14.0 release, it was the only official graphical network configuration service option for managing the network connections besides the traditional CLI (Command Line Interface) based manual configuration. Together with the Slackware Linux 14.0 release, a Network Manager (NetworkManager) was integrated to the main tree of the release for easy setup and management of wired and wireless networking retaining full support for the traditional Slackware Linux networking scripts and for the wicd network manager.

Before configuring network connections, open a terminal emulator and become root by,$su

The NetworkManager daemon will not be started by default at boot, because the other network management options are still retained and users may want to prefer them instead of the NetworkManager. To start the network daemon automatically at boot, make the NetworkManager initialization script executable by using below command.

#NetworkManagerThe NetworkManager will appear in system tray by default even without starting the NetworkManager daemon, but you need to start the NetworkManager daemon for configuring the network connections.

Slackware Linux 14.0 comes with KDE widget for the Network Manager. Graphical configuration part of this guide is completely valid for the KDE.

Click on the NetworkManager icon in system tray.

Make sure that "Enable networking" and "Enable wireless" boxes are checked and click on the "Manage Connections" tab on the right side.

Click on the "Add" button.

Rename the wired connection, check the "Connect automatically" box (this will provide an automatic network connection on every login) and click on the "OK" button.

Click on the "OK" button.

Click on the "NetworkManager" icon in system tray.

Click on the wired connection you named previously on the right side and wait until the wired connection to be established.

Now, you are successfully connected to the wired network. To connect a wireless network, click on the WLAN interface tab on the left side. Then, SSIDs (names of the wireless networks) in the coverage of your WLAN network adapter will be listed.

Click on the SSID of the wireless network you want to connect.

Check the "Connect automatically" box (this will provide an automatic network connection on every login), enter the security password and click on the "OK" button.

Click on the "NetworkManager" icon in system tray.

Click on the wireless connection you configured previously on the right side and wait until the wireless connection to be established.

Now, you are successfully connected to the wireless network.

NOTICE: If you are using XFCE, Slackware Linux 14.0 full installation includes NetworkManager applet (nm-applet) that works well under the XFCE. After initializing the NetworkManager daemon and relogging on, applet icon will appear in the system tray of the XFCE. Configuration GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the applet differs slightly from the KDE NetworkManager widget.